Traditionally area schools were in rural and perhaps remote places where students attended the same school for the whole of their compulsory schooling i.e. from 5 to 16 years.

Today, through changes of legislation, both integrated and kura/wharekura schools also come under the definition of area school.  Currently about one-third of area schools are traditional rural schools, one-third are integrated special character schools both urban and rural while the remainder are kura/wharekura, also both urban and rural.  All still aim to have students from years 0-13.

As area schools employ both primary and secondary teachers the current collective agreements for both teachers and principals in area schools have been jointly negotiated with NZEI.

Area School Advisory Committee

The Area School Advisory Committee looks after the interests of PPTA members in area schools. It is responsible for overseeing the bargaining of the Area School Teachers' Collective Agreement.

The PPTA Advisory Committee is made up of the following members:

On 3 August the PPTA and NZEI  presented their claim for the ASTCA  to the Ministry of Education bargaining team (which includes a representative of NZSTA). The ministry then tabled a raft of counter-claims. While most of the ministry counter-claims are similar to those it presented to STCA negotiations, many of the claims are so generalised that their intent is unclear.

More information on the Area school news page.

The Area schools newsletter can be downloaded from the newsletters section of the website.